On July 15, 2025, the Department of Interior (DOI) issued a memorandum titled, “Departmental Review Procedures for Decisions, Actions, Consultations, and other Undertakings Related to Wind and Solar Energy Facilities” (the Memo). The Memo directs federal agencies within DOI to elevate a nonexclusive list of 69 categories of routine permitting activities related to wind and solar projects to final review and approval by the Secretary of Interior. The Memo creates significant uncertainty and is likely to cause additional delays for wind and solar developers seeking to permit projects located on federal land or requiring approval from any federal agency within DOI.
Memo Applicability
The Memo would require submission of “all decisions, actions, consultations, and other undertakings . . . related to wind and solar energy facilities”—“including but not limited to”—a list of enumerated activities to top levels of DOI for final review and approval. The permitting activities listed in the memo are typically handled by local and regional staff within the DOI’s bureaus, offices, and services, including the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Bureau of Reclamation, and others. Under the Memo, agency staff will need to elevate these activities first to the Office of the Executive Secretariat and Regulatory Affairs, second to the Office of the Deputy Secretary, and third for final review and approval by the Office of the Secretary.
The list of 69 enumerated activities is expansive and includes routine permitting requirements for projects with development impacts on federal land—for example, “temporary use permits,” “access road authorizations,” and “right-of-way (ROW) applications.” The list also implicates permitting activities on private land that require review or approval from any agency within DOI. For example, the Memo identifies “consultation” with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service under the Endangered Species Act, Migratory Bird Treaty Act, and Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act, as well as “biological assessments” and “biological opinions” as actions that would require final review and approval from the Secretary of Interior’s Office.
The Larger Picture
The Memo points to several recent Executive Orders and other policy documents issued by the Trump Administration as context for this sweeping change in DOI policy and practice, including Executive Order (EO) 14315, entitled “Ending Market Distorting Subsidies for Unreliable, Foreign-Controlled Energy Sources,” EO 147156, “Declaring a National Energy Emergency,” the Presidential Memorandum, entitled “Temporary Withdrawal of All Areas on the Outer Continental Shelf from Offshore Wind Leasing and Review of the Federal Government’s Leasing and Permitting Practices for Wind Projects,” the Secretary’s Order (SO) 3417, entitled “Addressing the National Energy Emergency,” and finally, SO 3418, “Unleashing American Energy.” See Stoel Rives Energy Regulatory Updates.
The Memo is the latest evolution in the Trump Administration’s effort to stall permitting of wind and solar energy projects. Most recently, on July 7, President Trump issued an EO 14315 directing agencies to review regulations and guidance under the Department of the Interior’s jurisdiction to “determine whether any provide preferential treatment to wind and solar facility in comparison to dispatchable energy sources.” This investigation stems from complaints that renewable energy sources have more resources available to fund and push projects along. The administration is aiming to even the playing field to ensure competitive and thriving energy development in the United States.
The Memo does not provide additional guidance regarding the processes or criteria that DOI’s top offices will use to review the identified wind and solar permitting activities. However, given the sheer number of permitting activities now requiring elevated review, heightened scrutiny pursuant to the Memo will likely slow project approvals and delay overall project timelines.